A Gloucester County mother and stepfather are charged with the murder of their 9-year-old daughter
The Paulsboro couple told police they suspected their daughter was hit by a vehicle, but the autopsy showed prolonged abuse, the Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office said.
A Paulsboro mother and stepfather are charged with the murder of their 9-year-old daughter after they reported to police that they suspected she was hit by a vehicle, according to the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office.
India Miller, 27, and Sean D. Scott, 45, allegedly called police early Tuesday morning to report that their child wasn’t breathing, prosecutors announced Thursday.
Scott claimed to police the child was walking the dog and could have been hit by a vehicle. Miller allegedly corroborated that by reporting that she heard a loud sound like tires screeching, according to the release from Gloucester County Prosecutor Andrew B. Johns’ office. Scott told police he went outside and found the child by their shed.
When the child was taken to a local hospital for treatment, medical staff observed “additional injuries not consistent with a vehicle crash,” prosecutors said. The child died that night.
Surveillance video from around the property showed no vehicle traffic during the alleged timeframe, and the girl’s 4-year-old sibling told police that their father hit the victim in the eyes and face, prosecutors said.
“Wet children’s clothing with suspected blood was observed in the upstairs bathroom tub, and suspected blood was observed on the tile surrounding the tub, on a Swiffer Wet Jet, and on other cleaning supplies,” prosecutors wrote in the release.
An autopsy by the Gloucester/Salem/Cumberland medical examiner revealed injuries in various stages of healing, prosecutors said, “suggesting prolonged abuse.”
The autopsy determined that the “multiple blunt force injuries” caused the child’s death.
“This was a horrible crime like that we have never seen before in this community,” Mayor John Giovannitti said in a Facebook video.
The child, who was not named by prosecutors, was not enrolled in Paulsboro Public Schools, according to a letter from the district posted to their website on Thursday.
“While this young person was not a student enrolled in the Paulsboro Public Schools, the loss of a child is felt by our entire town, and we know that news of this magnitude affects many of our families, children, and staff,” Superintendent Phillip C. Neff Jr. wrote in the letter.
Miller and Scott are each charged with first-degree murder, first-degree accomplice to a murder, two counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, fourth-degree making a fictitious report to police, and fourth-degree hindering prosecution. They are both being held at Salem County Jail and could face a life sentence if they are found guilty.
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